One of the many ways that murder is the unique crime; it’s the only one that makes us ask why. Robbery, rape, fraud, drug dealing, all the filthy litany, they come with their filthy explanations built in; all you have to do is slot the perp into the perp-shaped hole. Murder needs an answer.

Some detectives don’t care. Officially, they’re right: if you can prove whodunit, nothing in the law says you need to prove why. I care. When I pulled what looked like a random drive-by, I spent weeks – after we had the shooter in custody, after we had enough evidence to sink him ten times over – having in-depth conversations with every monosyllabic cop-hating lowlife in his shit-hole neighborhood, until someone let slip that the victim’s uncle worked in a shop and had refused to sell the shooter’s twelve-year-old sister a packet of cigarettes. The day we stop asking why, the day we decide that it’s acceptable for the answer to a severed life is to be Just because, is the day we step away from that line across the cave entrance and invite the wild to come howling in.

Mick Scorcher Kennedy, detective on the Dublin murder squad, is called in to investigate a triple homicide in the rundown seaside residential town of Brianstown. The town, which years ago used to be a vacation spot called Broken Harbor, has seen better days thanks to the recession that has plagued Ireland. In the house, Scorcher and his new green-horn partner Richie Curran find Pat Spain, stabbed to death on his kitchen floor. His young children, Emma and Jack, have been smothered to death in their upstairs bedrooms. Pat’s wife Jenny has been taken to the hospital, also stabbed and barely clinging to life.

Not only does Scorcher have to pick through the pieces of the Spain’s lives, but he also needs to deal with his mentally unstable younger sister, who comes undone when she finds out her brother is on a case in Broken Harbor.  Scorcher and his sisters used to vacation in Broker Harbor as children, until one night their mother decided to take her own life by drowning herself in the ocean. Now he spends his days and nights trying to figure out what was going on in the Spain household after Pat lost his job a few months back. They are also tracking down Connor, an old friend of the couple who has been camping out in an abandoned house across the yard from the family. Coming back to Broken Harbor, working all sort of ungodly hours with Richie to solve the case and trying to come to grips with his childhood memories of his mother may just put Detective Kennedy over the edge.

I have read and enjoyed the author’s previous novels (you can click on any of the titles to read my review of  In the Woods, The Likeness and Faithful Place) and can tell you that Tana French has not lost her touch. I swear, this author doesn’t make a miss-step and her novels are all top notch thrillers and Broken Harbor is no exception.

The setting, a down-and-out neighborhood struggling during a terrible national financial crisis is aptly described as a ghost town, with only a few families left in all the rubble of half-finished houses trying to hang on to some sort of normalcy. As with all of the author’s characters, the Spains are nicely imagined – you can almost understand their desperation to keep up appearances, even if their home and lifestyle is on the line after Pat gets laid off. Mick Scorcher Kennedy is beautifully flawed – regimented, a bit full of himself and focused on the prize, and yet highly sympathetic. Richie, a newbie on the murder squad, who plays off of Scorcher’s tough-guy persona with a sympathetic ear, seems to work well with Scorcher, especially as they start to interrogate the characters.

I whipped through this book, taking a peek at it every free moment as I couldn’t wait to see how it turned out. This is Tana French’s fourth novel (and I read in an interview that her first two books, In the Woods and The Likeness, have been optioned for movies!) and I cannot wait for her fifth book. Never predictable, with an almost poetic prose, Tana French is most definitely one of my favorite authors. If you haven’t yet done so, make sure to start reading her Dublin murder squad series (all of her books feature a detective from the squad as the narrator) as I am sure you won’t be disappointed! Thank you Viking for sending Broken Harbor to me for review.

Giveaway details!

Viking is offering to giveaway a copy of BROKEN HARBOR to one lucky winner (US residents only – no P.O. Boxes please)! All you need to do is leave a comment on this post (with a valid e-mail address) by 12 noon on SUNDAY, August 26th and I will randomly pick one winner and will e-mail them directly.

For an additional chance, tweet this giveaway: Stop by @SWrittenWord 4 a chance to win BROKEN HARBOR by Tana French @VikingBooks #giveaway http://tinyurl.com/9yt3wbk

Broken Harbor (review & giveaway)! Originally published by Stephanie of Stephanie's Written Word. This post cannot be republished without express written permission.

Now, so many years later, Pete’s naked body is stretched out on the bed, those handsome eyes closed. He is right next to me, but he feels so very far away. I go to the shower alone. When the tears start, they are hot and full. I stand under the stream and let the water flow over my eyelids and nose and splash onto my chest. Suddenly too tired to stand, I sit down and curl my knees toward my breasts. I imagine Mama coming in and seeing me like this. Whatever mood she was in, and there were some bad ones, she would give me a towel. Tell me to get up and come have toast. She’d put the kettle on and fill a hot-water bottle, slide it into a brown woollen cover. She’d make tea. I wait, the shower tiles leaving an imprint on my backside, but no one comes to wrap me in a towel; there is only the sound of water falling.

Expats Grace, originally from England, and her Aussie husband Pete have moved to Macau, China for Pete’s job constructing a new casino. Their marriage has been on the rocks after multiple tries to get pregnant. When Grace’s worse fear has been confirmed (she is indeed infertile) everything starts to fall apart. Looking for a purpose to her life in this strange land, on a whim Grace decides to open a cafe serving tea and macarons to the people of Macau.

Grace is a warm personality, and soon her shop is busy with expats and locals alike. One regular is Gigi, a young woman who is tough on the outside but inwardly fearful of what her life is going to be like after becoming pregnant by her delinquent boyfriend. Gigi’s grandmother, Yok Lan, who only speaks Cantonese, also frequents the cafe, enjoying her morning tea and macarons by the window. Marjory, an expat like Grace, is also looking for meaning in her life, even if she seems completely put together on the outside. Then there is Rilla, a Filipino ex-maid who is working at the cafe, but who is also hiding something from everyone. These women quickly build an unlikely friendship that in turn helps Grace to come to terms with her life in Macau.

The Color of Tea by Hannah Tunnicliffe is exactly what you would expect from looking at the beautiful cover art – an easy to read book that doesn’t delve too far into it’s subject matter. The parts of the book I appreciated most were the author’s wonderful descriptions of the macaron creations (some of which literally made my mouth water) and various poignant passages like the one I highlighted above about life and loss. I also came to really like the characters in the book and was very interested to see where the story would lead them. I’ve had the opportunity to travel through China (not Macau though, although my husband worked there before coming to the US) and enjoy books set in that country. In fact, I thought the book was quite nice until the last chapter. I have to agree with Kathy’s (of Bermuda Onion fame) review of this book as she also had a hard time with the ending of the story. I wasn’t as shocked by the ending as she was, as I was imagining that it was going that direction mid-way through the novel, but was hoping that it wouldn’t end the way it did. It really took away from the rest of the book, as it was highly unrealistic and all together too sticky sweet for my tastes.

Even though I would say ultimately that I did enjoy The Color of Tea, I wasn’t all together thrilled with the last few pages of the book. If you can get past the unrealistic ending, the book itself was a nice exploration of female friendships and finding meaning in your life.

Thank you TLC Book Tours for sending this book to me to review. To find out what other people had to say about The Color of Tea, make sure to check out these tour stops!

Monday, July 9th:  Book Club Classics!
Tuesday, July 10th:  BookNAround
Wednesday, July 11th:  girlichef
Monday, July 16th:  Book Addiction
Wednesday, July 25th:  Stiletto Storytime
Thursday, July 19th:  Twisting the Lens
Monday, July 30th:  A Bookish Affair
Friday, August 3rd:  Raging Bibliomania
Monday, August 6th:  Savvy Verse and Wit
Thursday, August 9th:  Southern Girl Reads
Monday, August 13th:  Suko’s Notebeook
TBD:  Regular Rumination

The Color of Tea Originally published by Stephanie of Stephanie's Written Word. This post cannot be republished without express written permission.

Lily wants to reconnect with her boys, but Charlotte is skeptical of this strange other world. She agrees to bring the boys back again for a visit, but as she gets more involved with the weird human-like creatures connected with the House of Darkling, and as her own friend in Blackfield is stalked by a mysterious being, Charlotte realizes that something is amiss. But can Charlotte convince the boys that they shouldn’t visit The Ending again, or does the strange person who presides over the House of Darkling have other plans?

I was very much interested in reading Charlotte Markham and the House of Darkling by Michael Boccacino, as it combines two elements that I very much enjoy – gothic and fantasy. Unfortunately, in the case of this novel, the two genres did not blend seamlessly. The first part of the book I enjoyed and I thought the gothic elements were spot on. The description of Everton, the estate in which the Darrow family resides, was nicely imagined. You could really imagine Everton as a Downton Abbey-like estate, albiet a  run down one with a creepiness set deep in its bones. There was also a brooding, handsome widower wandering around the house, which gave the story a Jane Eyre-esque feel. In other words, the set up for a gothic story was perfect.

Where Charlotte Markham and the House of Darkling fell short for me was the fantasy part of the story. Sure, the author has some wonderfully descriptive fantasy elements written, especially while the characters visited the House of Darkling, but as the story went on it became more convoluted and hard to follow. It almost felt like the gothic part of the novel has been left behind, only to be replaced with a fantasy story which was not nearly as strong.

In the end, I think that Charlotte Markham and the House of Darkling had great potential but just couldn’t decide what kind of story it wanted to tell.

Even though I might have not enjoyed Charlotte Markham and the House of Darkling, there are plenty of other reviews you should check out before you decide whether or not this book is for you. Thank you TLC Book Tours for sending me this book for review.

BOOK TOUR STOPS

Tuesday, July 24th: A Chick Who Reads
Wednesday, July 25th: Unabridged Chick
Thursday, July 26th: Reading Lark
Friday, July 27th: Luxury Reading
Monday, July 30th: Wordsmithonia
Tuesday, July 31st: Into the Hall of Books
Wednesday, August 1st: Under My Apple Tree
Thursday, August 2nd: Jenn’s Bookshelves
Monday, August 6th: Sidewalk Shoes
Tuesday, August 7th: Twisting the Lens
Wednesday, August 8th: Misbehavin’ Librarian

Charlotte Markham and the House of Darkling Originally published by Stephanie of Stephanie's Written Word. This post cannot be republished without express written permission.

Dr. Diana Bishop, a Yale educated Historian, is at Oxford’s Bodleian Library when she accidentally sets off a flurry of other-worldly activity. Diana is a witch, orphaned at the age of seven when her two very powerful witch parents were murdered. She is much more interested in scholarly pursuits instead of her own witch power and while recalling a centuries old alchemical manuscript, Ashmole 782, she accidentally discovers it’s enchanted.

All of a sudden Diana has attracted all sorts of attention – from witches, daemons and vampires. In particular, the very handsome alpha vampire Matthew de Clairmont takes an interest in her. But Diana is nothing if not independent, and resists Matthew’s charms. But it turns out Matthew is pretty irresistible and before you know it they are interested in each other. But vampires and witches don’t usually mix romantically (to prevent the discovery of the species to unsuspecting humans)  but their relationship, and the fact that Diana has unknowingly conjured the bewitched text, gets them in a whole lot of trouble. Before they know it they are in a wild goose chase that puts all of the Bishop and de Clairmont families at risk.

Book two titled Shadow of Night picks up where book one left off, with Diana and Matthew leaping through time and ending up in Elizabethan London. Their goal is to find a witch who will help Diana develop her witch powers and search for the lost Ashmole 782. Matthew is also reunited with old friends who encompass the mysterious group the School of Night, which includes Christopher Marlowe and Sir Walter Raleigh. But will their time travel bring them any closer to finding the magical manuscript or will living in the past change the future forever?

Shadow of Night by Deborah Harkness is an excellent sequel to A Discovery of Witches. This fantasy series is definitely written for adults who enjoy more mature characters then the ones found in most YA fantasy novels. I’ll be the first to admit that I enjoyed reading Twilight for what it was – a cheesy teen romance with some action thrown in. Shadow of Night is a much more complex novel, with less of the cheesy factor and a much deeper storyline.

Harkness is a professor of history at a University and recently wrote the scholarly book The Jewel House: Elizabethan London and the Scientific Revolution, so you can easily tell that she knows her subject matter. I enjoyed reading about the characters in entire different setting (and time period) in the second book and appreciate the research the author must have had to do to make the story authentic.

In the end, I thought that Shadow of Night was a great read and now cannot wait until book three is released! Thanks Viking for sending this book my way! 

Giveaway details!

Viking has sent me a hardcover copy of Shadow of Night (along with some Shadow of Night themed buttons and tattoos) to giveaway to one lucky winner (US or Canadian residents only – no P.O. Boxes please)! All you need to do is leave a comment on this post (with a valid e-mail address) by 12 noon on SUNDAY, July 22nd and I will randomly pick one winner and will e-mail them directly.

For an additional chance, tweet this giveaway: Stop by @SWrittenWord 4 a chance to win SHADOW OF NIGHT by @DebHarkness @VikingBooks http://tinyurl.com/7njhsu5 #giveaway

Shadow of Night (review & giveaway) Originally published by Stephanie of Stephanie's Written Word. This post cannot be republished without express written permission.

Please be aware that if you haven’t read the first book (and really, what are you waiting for?) then this review will have some spoilers from The Taker in it. Proceed at your own risk!

Book two picks up a few months after The Taker ends. Lanore McIlvrae is in London with Luke Findley, visiting the Victoria and Albert Museum for the opening of the exhibit of the treasures she anonymously gave as a gift. While there, after two hundred years on the run after imprisoning Adair, the man who made Lanore immortal, she suddenly realizes that he has escaped.

Adair emerges into a world he doesn’t recognize and seeks out the immortal Jude for help locating Lanore. All Adair wants is revenge for her deceit and will go to extreme measures, including digging up her old boyfriend Jonathan from the grave, to find her. Adair has no conscience and is wicked to the core, but has an undeniable attraction for Lanore, even though she was the one who betrayed him. In the meantime, Lanore quickly finds herself on the run, seeking Adair’s other immortal beings in the hopes they will help her escape the inevitable wrath of Adair.

As the story unfolds, we learn about Lanore’s life over the last couple hundreds of years and about how her love for Jonathan was never ending, even after he left her and then asked her to end his life. We also learn about Adair’s past and his quest for immortality. Soon their stories merge together in a very interesting and quite surprising conclusion to The Reckoning, one that left me wanting more.   

Book two of The Taker Trilogy was a really great read. I enjoyed this supernatural thriller probably as much as book one, in particular because I thought that the character of Lanore grew so much in this book. In the first book she came off as self-serving, but you can really see her character begin to change and by the end you are surprised to see how much the author has developed her character. Also, even though Adair is still a brutal guy, you get a little bit of a better understanding of the person he has become by the end of the book. 

I flew through the three hundred forty plus pages, never quite knowing where the story would lead. I enjoyed the overall gothic feel to the novel and compelling storyline and also felt that the ending really left the storyline wide open for book three. I’ll be anxiously awaiting the last book in the trilogy to find out what happens to Lanore and Adair.

Giveaway details!

Wunderkind PR has offered to send a hardcover copy of THE RECKONING to one lucky winner (US or Canadian residents only – no P.O. Boxes please)! All you need to do is leave a comment on this post (with a valid e-mail address) by 12 noon on SUNDAY, July 8th and I will randomly pick one winner. For an additional chance, tweet this giveaway: Stop by @SWrittenWord 4 a chance to win THE RECKONING by @almakatsu @WunderCara http://tinyurl.com/78727q5 #giveaway

The Reckoning (review & giveaway)! Originally published by Stephanie of Stephanie's Written Word. This post cannot be republished without express written permission.

Julia’s family tries to adapt to this new environment, following the government suggested “clock time” system, meaning even though the days grow increasingly longer, the clock stays on a twenty-four hour time period. Sometimes those twenty-four hours could be completely dark, or long periods of sunlight. Some of their neighbors go against the system and become “real timers” continuing to live by the rising and setting of the sun.

Birds start to die, people suffer (including Julia’s mother) from the inexplicible slowing syndrome, and their world slowly starts to fall apart. But within the midst of this disaster, Julia’s family try to hold on to some semblance of normalcy. Narrated by Julia, who is looking back as an adult to when the slowing first began, The Age of Miracles was an interesting read, although didn’t quite keep my interest as I thought it would.

It’s a unsettling story in various ways. The author focuses not only on the environmental impact that this disaster has on the Earth, but she also explores the relationships around her. Unfortunately, even though Julia and her parent’s are strong characters, the supporting characters in the book felt flat. The book was really two stories in one and the impact on the planet (including the bird deaths, the hundreds of beached whales and the strange slowing sickness) was a much stronger plot line than the one of teen angst and adolescence. In particular, Julia’s friends came off as one-dimensional characters and were utterly forgettable. I thought the trials and tribulations of an eleven year old girl dealing with issues of adolescence, friendships and young love would have been more compelling, especially set against such a terribly unsettling  backdrop, but again the characters didn’t live up to their potential.

Having said that, the relationship between Julia and her father, made more complicated after the slowing began (and by her parent’s failing marriage) was probably the most compelling part of the book, but unfortunately wasn’t enough to sustain the story. The ending was quite unsatisfactory also, as the science behind the slowing is never revealed to the reader.

Lastly, I just wanted to point out that I am in the minority in my not-so-glowing review of The Age of Miracles. There are a lot of other people who loved this book, including Jenn over at Jenn’s Bookshelves, so make sure to check out other reviews before you decide to read The Age of Miracles.

The Age of Miracles Originally published by Stephanie of Stephanie's Written Word. This post cannot be republished without express written permission.

This book is totally true, except for the parts that aren’t. It’s basically like Little House on the Prairie but with more cursing. And I know, you’re thinking “But Little House on the Prairie was totally true!” and no, I’m sorry, but it wasn’t. Laura Ingalls was a compulsive liar with no fact-checker, and probably if she was still alive today her mom would be saying “I don’t know how Laura came up with this whole ‘I’m-a-small-girl-on-the-prairie’ story. We lived in New Jersey with her aunt Frieda and our dog, Mary, who was blinded when Laura tried to bleach a lightning bolt on her forehead.

Earlier this month I spent the day at the Book Blogger Conference at BEA, where I listened to Jenny Lawson talk about her blog and her new book Let’s Pretend This Never Happened: (A Mostly True Memoir). I picked up a copy of her memoir at the conference and started reading it that night on the train ride back to New Jersey, which was probably a bad idea as this is the type of book that will have your laughing out loud on what should be a quiet ride home.

Let’s Pretend this Never Happened (A Mostly True Memoir) is a memoir written in Lawson’s signature random style. From her strange upbringing in rural Texas (her taxidermist father would routinely bring wild animals, like raccoons, into the house to become their “new pets”) to the author’s account of living with an anxiety disorder, Lawson has a gift in making even the most unfunny situations humorous.

If you grew up in the 80’s (like I did) then you’ll love all the pop culture references that Lawson mentions, including Freddie Krueger, Rainbow Brite and Thundercats. I could also appreciate this passage about woman bloggers, which made me giggle.

Women scare me enough, but bloggers can be even more frightening to deal with. Most bloggers are emotionally unstable and are often awkward in social situations, which is why so many of us turned to blogging in the first place. Also, they are always looks for something to write about, so if you f*ck something up it will be blogged, Facebooked, and retweeted until your death.

While this book isn’t for everyone (if you are sensitive to swearing, then back away from this book very slowly) it was the perfect book if your looking to read something that will make you laugh. In the end, reading Let’s Pretend this Never Happened is like sitting on your back deck, drink in your hand and cracking up with your snarky, foul mouthed best friend.

Let’s Pretend this Never Happened Originally published by Stephanie of Stephanie's Written Word. This post cannot be republished without express written permission.

Gone Girl is a psychological mystery thriller that is top notch!  The author has created a wonderfully complex plot with incredibly flawed characters in Amy and Nick Dunne, so much so that when you are reading it’s hard to tell who is telling the truth. The book bounces between Nick’s point of view after Amy is missing and Amy’s side of the story in journal entries from early in their marriage. From the outside their relationship seems like a happy union, but as the clock ticks and Amy is still a missing person, the perfect marriage facade starts to fade. Flynn is a master at deconstructing the human psyche and tying all her plot points together to form a seamless storyline. Add to that an absolutely pitch perfect ending and you have one heck of a thrill ride.

Gone Girl would make an excellent choice for a book club to read, as the dynamics of a failing marriage and the twists and turns of the story will make for a great discussion. If there is one book you should be packing in your beach bag this summer, make sure it’s this one. With a crazy plot that will keep you guessing until virtually the last page, Gone Girl is going to knock your socks off!  

I’ve never read any of the author’s other novels, but after this one I will be sure to check out her other two! For more information about the Gillian Flynn, check out her website here. And if I haven’t already convinced you to read Gone Girl, then I would just mention that Flynn’s fluid writing echo’s one of my other favorite mystery writers, Tana French, who by the way has a new book coming out next month! So if you’ve read any of Tana’s other novels and enjoyed them, then I think you are going to love Gone Girl.

Giveaway details!

The publisher has offered to send a copy of Gone Girl to one lucky winner (US or Canadian residents only – no P.O. Boxes please)! All you need to do is leave a comment on this post (with a valid e-mail address) by 12 noon on SUNDAY, JUNE 17th and I will randomly pick one winner. For an additional chance, tweet this giveaway: Stop by @SWrittenWord 4 a chance to win GONE GIRL by Gillian Flynn http://tinyurl.com/7odyhc4 thx to @TLCBookTours @CrownPublishing #giveaway

I’m not the only person who read and reviewed Gone Girl. Check out what these other blogs had to say about the book:

Monday, June 4th:  Book Reviews by Elizabeth A. White
Tuesday, June 5th:  “That’s Swell!”
Wednesday, June 6th:  Girls Just Reading
Wednesday, June 6th:  The Huffington Post Books – Gillian Flynn interview
Thursday, June 7th:  Bewitched Bookworms
Monday, June 11th:  A Bookworm’s World
Thursday, June 14th:  Life in Review
Friday, June 15th:  House of Crime and Mystery
Monday, June 18th: A Chick Who Reads
Tuesday, June 19th:  Lesa’s Book Critiques
Wednesday, June 20th:  Jen’s Book Thoughts
Thursday, June 21st:  Life in the Thumb
Friday, June 22nd:  Jenn’s Bookshelves
Tuesday, June 26th:  You’ve GOTTA Read This!
Wednesday, June 27th:  The Broke and the Bookish
Thursday, June 28th:  Chaotic Compendiums
Tuesday, July 3rd:  Twisting the Lens
Thursday, July 5th:  Colloquium
TBD:  Raging Bibliomania

Gone Girl (review & giveaway)! Originally published by Stephanie of Stephanie's Written Word. This post cannot be republished without express written permission.

Yesterday I got up early and took a train into NYC to attend, for the first time, the BEA Book Blogger Conference. I had been to Book Expo America in the past, even speaking on a panel of book bloggers in 2009, but had not attended the Book Blogger Conference. The last two years, the conference was run by two bloggers, Michelle at Galleysmith and Trish at Hey Lady! Whatcha Reading?. This year the conference was purchased by BEA and no longer run by bloggers but run as a concurrent event to BEA. Since I only had one day to go into the city this year, I thought it would be fun to check out the blogger conference and skip the (sometimes chaotic) trade floor. I’m going to break this post down in two parts, my personal thoughts about the conference, shall we say the Good and the Not So Good. First, I’ll start with what I felt were the parts in which the BEA Book Blogger Conference excelled.

THE GOOD

The BEA Book Blogger Conference had two strong points and probably these would be considered two of the more important parts of any conference experience.

First, I think they kicked off with a pretty strong speaker, author Jennifer Weiner, who was there to speak to the crowd about blogging as an author and how social media has opened up a whole new world for authors to interact with readers. She has posted her entire speech on her blog if you are interested to see what she said. I found Jennifer to engage well with the audience and enjoyed listening to her speak.

Secondly, the sessions I attended were interesting. We started off listening to the panelists on Blogging Today: What you need to know and what’s next, which included blogger Candace of Beth Fish Reads, Erica Barmash of Harper Perennial and Harper paperbacks, Patrick Brown of Goodreads and author/blogger Jen Lancaster. Not surprisingly, the topic of plagiarism in the blogging world was brought up during the panel and as you can well imagine, people have very strong feelings about this topic. The panelists also discussed social media and the impact Facebook (and especially Twitter) have had on the book blogging world.

I also very much enjoyed the panel Demystifying the Book Blogger and Publisher Relationship moderated by Derek Stordahl, a Global Publishing Expert & Blogger and including blogger Jenn Lawrence
of Jenn’s Bookshelves, Lucille Rettino of Simon & Schuster and Lindsey Rudnickas of NetGalley. The panelists spoke mostly about how to develop relationships between book bloggers and publishers. There was also some discussion as to which was more important, page views and stats or number of comments on a book blog (which I still think is up for debate) and what information bloggers need to convey to Netgalley and publishers when requesting an ARC (mainly blog stats and how many Twitter and Facebook followers a book blogger has). It was a very informative sessions and probably the best part of my experience at the conference.

THE NOT SO GOOD

There was some interaction with bloggers and authors during the conference at breakfast and lunch, but as far as I could tell this did not run as smoothly as the organizers might have hoped. Maybe it’s just that I didn’t get so lucky when picking my table for breakfast (although sitting next to Cat and Karenwas great!) but while other tables had a rotation of four authors (spending a few minutes at each table) we only had two authors show up to speak with us. The same happened at lunch. Personally (and here I speak with some experience at event planning, having worked at a large international real estate franchising company for many years and having had to plan and execute many conferences during my career) I think that maybe having the authors at tables along the perimeter of the room, similar to an author signing at BEA, where you could pick the author you were most interested in interacting with and wait to talk to them may have worked better. I know that the author visits were to coincide with the time we spent eating, but I could have interacted with the authors I really wanted to see if it was set up in a different way. Also, I don’t think that any of the authors were giving out ARCs of their books (and I know that they will be doing so at BEA) but since we are all book bloggers and reviewers, maybe having some of the more popular authors sign their upcoming books would have helped ultimately promote those same books and authors.   

Secondly, even though I read and very much enjoy Jennifer Lawson’s blog and luckily got her bestselling Let’s Pretend this Never Happened yesterday (which I started reading on the train ride home) I feel her strengths are not in the public speaking arena. That’s not to say she didn’t have some interesting and funny things to say (most notably I loved her statement “bloggers are more important than big media”) but she didn’t actually have a speech per se, but mostly talked about her random thoughts about being an author and blogging (which is very similar to her writing style). It was not a strong finish to the conference.  

In the end, if you are attending your first BEA and need a good jumping off point, the Book Blogger Conference would most likely be worth the money. Also, if you are fairly new to blogging, I think that you can learn some very interesting information from future panels. It is also a good place to meet some of the bloggers you’ve been following (and make friends who you may just be walking around with on the trade floor). If you are a more established book blogger (or have attended BEA in the past) then I’m not sure if it would really be worth your time and money to attend. Did you go to the conference? If so, what did you think? Did I hit the nail on the head or am I far off the mark?

BEA Book Blogger Conference – my thoughts Originally published by Stephanie of Stephanie's Written Word. This post cannot be republished without express written permission.

Lanore McIlvrae is brought into a hospital in small town St. Andrews, Maine late one cold night by the police. She had been found wandering the highway in the middle of the night, with blood soaked clothes, and is suspected of murder. Luke Findley is the ER doctor on call who is inexplicably drawn to Lanore as soon as he meets her. Lanore starts to tell Luke a fantastic story, about her childhood in St. Andrews over two hundred years ago. That of course can not possibly be true, until Lanore proves to Luke that in fact her claims of immortality isn’t the stuff of fairy tales. Before you know it, Lanore and Luke are on the run from the police and more of Lanore’s incredible life story unravels, including her life-long love for the self absorbed Jonathan (who also happens to be the man she is suspecting of murdering) and the connection that binds her to Aidar, a sadistic man who made Lanore what she is today. But can Lanore truly run from her past and start over again, or is it only a matter of time until it all catches up to her?

The Taker by Alma Katsu, the first book in a trilogy, was a wild ride of a story that had me feverishly turning the pages. This atmospheric, gothic tale of doomed romantic love, the price of immortality and escaping your own fate was a great story that grabs hold of you and won’t let you go until the very last page.

What’s interesting about The Taker is that even though I didn’t find the character’s very likeable, I still wanted to continue reading to see what would happen to them.  Lanore comes off as selfish and manipulative, Aidar is controlling and just plain crazy and Jonathan as a self absorbed man who has a wandering eye for all the pretty ladies. This would usually turn me off, as I tend to need to get emotionally invested with the characters to care what happens to them. This wasn’t the case however with The Taker. I simply found the story to be so darn intriguing that I just had to continue reading! I was glad though to read in the Q&A section at the back of the book, where the author says that ultimately the characters in the series will struggle with the question of redemption. I’ll be holding my breath to see if in fact the author will make the characters a bit more sympathetic in book two. Regardless, I very much enjoyed The Taker and cannot wait to get my hands on book two, The Reckoning which is due out on June 19th! Thanks to Wunderkind PR for sending this great book my way. For more information about the author, you can visit her website here.

The Taker Originally published by Stephanie of Stephanie's Written Word. This post cannot be republished without express written permission.